The Sizzler, seen here in 2013 in New Jersey, was responsible for a 16-year-old girl's death Friday in Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

(Newser)
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A 16-year-old girl died Friday after being thrown from a carnival ride at a church festival in El Paso, Texas, the El Paso Times reports. According to ABC News, three teen girls were aboard the Sizzler when something went wrong. Two of the girls were flung from the ride; the third managed to stay on by hooking her arms around a handle bar, her father tells KFOX. The 16-year-old hit a metal barricade after being ejected from the ride and died at the hospital. The second teen who was thrown from the ride was also hospitalized with unspecified injuries. The festival was being held at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in celebration of Dia De Los Niños. The three girls were the only ones on the ride at the time of the accident.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and it's unclear what caused the teens to be thrown from the ride. "There's inspections that are required, whether or not this vendor has been up to par with that hasn't been determined," a police spokesperson tells KFOX. But the aunt of the girl who wasn't thrown from the Sizzler tells KTSM the teens complained to the ride operator that their seat belt wouldn't buckle. She says he told them it would be OK. In 2005, there were approximately 200 Sizzlers—which spin around a central point while also spinning riders in their seats—in the US. The ride has previously been responsible for deaths in Arkansas, Colorado, and elsewhere.

I'll go down class V rapids trusting my life to a capable young river guide and climb crevice-filled glaciers tied in with a responsible mountain guide but avoid amusement rides run and maintained by stoner carnies like the plague.

The Equalizer

Apr 30, 2016 9:27 PM CDT

Regulation? Regulation? We don't need no stinking regulation!

mpdMD1965

Apr 30, 2016 9:00 PM CDT

My condolences to the family of this unfortunate young lady... Hopefully a reason for the accident will be discovered. You can never replace your dear daughter and I pray God will help you find peace within yourself in time. God Bless